


Burn my Lungs

by Gothams_Only_Wolf



Series: Myths and Legends [3]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, F/F, F/M, M/M, Romance Across the Stars
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-18
Updated: 2015-05-06
Packaged: 2018-01-02 00:09:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1050215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gothams_Only_Wolf/pseuds/Gothams_Only_Wolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On a family vacation in the Caucasus Mountains, seven-year-old Leonard McCoy meets a dragon. He has no idea what that entails.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dragons are Real

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my goodness. This thing ran rough-shod over everything else in my mind and wouldn't leave me be! I've never seen anything like it before and bam! There went the Muses. 
> 
> So, this is an introduction into my brain and the spazzes that come forth at really bad moments? I'm currently supposed to be immersed in my NaNo novel but the Muses decided this would be more fun. Enjoy with caution?
> 
> WARNING: Universe-Mangling, characters that are dead may be alive and change everything plus serious relationships. I think-Wait. Tis fiction of the slashy variety but does have het in it. If you have come this far, be warned that I have not compelled, forced nor told you to continue forth. If you enjoy a good story and can deal with the above, welcome aboard!

* * *

Leonard met him when he was seven years old and far too curious for either of his country-raised parents to handle on a vacation. He lingered behind the group exploring the mountains the distance getting further and further from his folks. When he looks up again, his parents are nowhere in sight and the trail flag is a bright dot that's so far ahead. 

Leonard debates on whether or not to cry but his Dad said that big boys don't so he sniffed up his snot and wiped away the tears that fell. He starts walking but it's hard work on his legs. By the time Leonard quits for the night, he's shivering and miserable. He checks the cave for bears (Dad said that they slept in them) before he crawls in to tuck himself into a corner. 

"You shouldn't be here." Leonard yelps and stands up, clutching his flashlight with shaking hands. It's an adult but not his parents so he wisely keeps his distance. Plus, stranger danger has been drilled into his head by Mommy. "Are you... lost?" 

"No." the retort is sharp, quivering a little as he shivers in the cold air. "Just tired. Mommy says not to talk to strangers." Leonard adds for good measure. "So stay over there." 

"You've got quite the brave front, little Man." 

"..." Leonard peers suspiciously at the adult. The man starts a fire by muttering some words. The man has pointy ears and his eyes are large and slitted like the kitty that sleeps in the barn. They're grey though and that throws him off a bit. The curly dark hair is something he's only seen on Mommy but he supposes guys can have it too. 

"You'll freeze over there. Do you not have guardians to watch for your well-being?" the man continues in his gravelly voice, sticking what looks like meat over the fire. It smells good and the last time Leonard ate was at lunch; his stomach growls painfully but he stays where he's curled up. "Come. I will not harm one so young." 

"I'm seven. I'm not young." he huffs, watching his breath fog in the chilly air. 

"Ah. My apologies then, little Man. Would you please come closer? I will not have your death on my mind all century." Leonard hefts the flashlight like the sword he saw on the 21st century holo-vids before sliding closer to the fire. He plops down onto the rock across the fire from the adult and stares up. "What is your name?" 

"I'm not telling." Leonard mutters, shivering less now than he was. Maybe this adult wasn't so bad?

"I am Smaug." the fairy (cause no person had pointy ears, the books all said so) says with a funny face. 

"Don't you have a last name?" Okay, so Leonard liked him a little better; but just a little and he wasn't a stranger when Leonard knew his name. 

"No. I do not need one." the response is sharp and Leonard flinches but holds his ground. "Perhaps I am a bit rusty in communication. Would you like to help me find one?" 

"I guess I could help. But you're not... a person. The books I read say that you're a fairy or an elf. Are you?" The rich, rumbling laughter is not what he expects in response to his question. 

"Oh, little one, I am nothing of the sort. I was here long before Man and I will be here long after Man has vanished. I am a Fire-Drake."

"A dragon? Awesome. How come I didn't see you before? Are these your mountains? Cause I can tell Mom that we should leave..." He's struck with a sharp, sudden want for his Mom's warm arms and the tears start flowing. Leonard can't seem to stop them either. Smaug looks startled and then slowly uncomfortable from the blurry veil of his tears. "S-Sorry-hic-I just miss-hic-my Mom." The dragon's lips press thin before Leonard finds himself encircled in warm arms and backed by a solid chest. "I..."

"Hush, little one. I did indeed spot your group on my mountains. I will bring you to them but you must promise that my name will not pass your lips. They will not believe you because you are so small. Do you understand?" The rumbling is actually really nice up close and Leonard snuggles in happily to the warmth. 

"Y-Yes? Pinkie promise." Leonard extends his pinkie out of the warmth; Smaug looks at him with a raised eyebrow. "It means I'll keep my word." A noise of understanding comes from Smaug and the much larger pinkie wraps around his. "Since we're not strangers anymore, my name's Leonard McCoy. I'm gonna be a doctor." 

"A Healer? Interesting that you have decided so early." comes the response, the dragon reaching right into the fire to test the meat sticks that Leonard had almost forgotten. 

"No, it isn't. Dad's a doctor and his Daddy before him all the way back to infinity. We're the best darn doctors this place will ever see." he tells Smaug with a tone he learned from Dad. "Did you burn yourself?" 

"I am immune to fire, Leonard. I could hardly be burnt as it is my element." Smaug counters as he shifts Leonard to sit more upright. "The meat is done. Would you like some?" 

"Okay. But you eat some first." Leonard may not be strangers with Smaug anymore but he's not dumb. 

"Clever little one." Smaug chuckles lightly, a smile pulling back lips to reveal two sharp teeth that stick out from the rest. Daddy said they were called canines. "Testing my mettle." 

"Mommy says I'm real smart and that's good for doctors." he informs the dragon, pulling a bit off the meat stick that Smaug had eaten nearly half of to show him it was safe. Leonard hums at the taste and before he knows it, he's eaten a few himself. "That's good."

"For wild goat? Certainly. I take it you are tired?" Leonard yawns widely just as he's about to protest. "Indeed." 

He yawns as he stretches, the bed a little lumpy but then everything comes back to him and he gasps. Smaug snorts and blinks his eyes open, the thin white eyelids freaking Leonard out a bit. 

"My apologies, Leonard. I normally do not have a companion upon waking." Smaug's voice sounds even deeper with sleep and Leonard giggles as the dragon uncurls from around him. "What has you so amused?" 

"You sound funny when you wake up." he comments. 

"Perhaps. How would you feel about breakfast with your parents after they scold you?" Leonard sighs as he comes to know that his parents aren't going to let him go anywhere now without a tracker. "You realized something?" 

"They aren't gonna let me out of their sight for the next billionty years." Smaug laughs at that. "It's not funny." 

"It is quite amusing." the dragon counters as he kneels in front of Leonard while presenting his back. 

"Oh. A piggy-back ride." Leonard knows this part so they make their way over to his travel pack. Smaug hands it to him and he puts it on. "Can you carry me?" 

"Leonard, I am a dragon. I think I can handle a child and some weight." he sighs as they make good progress. When Leonard see that the group has turned back around and calling his name, he stiffens against Smaug's back. "I shall leave you here with a token." Smaug presents him with a glimmering blood-red disc that nearly encompasses his grip. "If you should ever need me, touch the scale and call my name. I will come to you no matter the distance." He gets off of Smaug's back and hugs the dragon before he tucks the scale away in his back-pack. When he looks up again, Smaug is nowhere in sight. Leonard peeks into his back-pack and the scale is still there. 

"Thanks, Smaug." he whispers to the air and he swears up and down that he hears the dragon laugh. "Mommy!" Normally he'd get yelled at for raising his voice so loud but he thinks this will be worth it if Mommy finds him. "Mommy! Daddy!" It's Dad who reaches him first and hugs Leonard to him with tears in his eyes. "Daddy, your face is wet. I thought big boys didn't cry?" 

"Oh, son, when you got a little 'un of your own, you'll understand." is what Daddy says as he scoops Leonard straight up and heads for Mommy. Her face is wet too so he's starting to think that if Smaug hadn't found him, his parents would be a lot sadder. 

"Baby! Oh, I'm sticking the biggest tracker I can find on your skinny butt." she chides as she squishes him between her and Daddy. 

"Okay. It was really scary." he agrees, happy to be where he belongs. "But I found a cave and did everything Daddy said to do if I got separated." He's smothered in kisses for that but silently wonders what will happen to his dragon friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this will be chaptered because I don't want to barf all of my ideas on you guys in a huge dump fic. Comment! Critique positively! Negative reinforcement is food for my more viscious Muses so I really wouldn't if I were you. Other than that? Carry on.


	2. Letters To a Reclusive Dragon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are with the second piece! I got such an amazing response from this crazy little thing. You guys are awesome. Long story short, this is what drives poor Doctor McCoy into Starfleet. His ex isn't all that nice either. Plus Bones has a potty mouth when he knows Joanna can't hear him. 
> 
> Smaug's letters have a mixing of formal and informal language because he's learning colloquialisms from Bones. The more formal bits are Smaug being Smaug and some words meant different things back in the day, so please don't take offense at the way he states things. As a matter of fact, J.R.R. Tolkien used words like that himself in the dialogue of LOTR, The Hobbit and even The Simillarion.

* * *

It's been said that at the wedding day of Jocelyn McCoy, you could see her husband-to-be beaming at the end of the aisle. A fairy-tale wedding with all the flair you could imagine championed by the power-couple of the decade. Their vows were sweet and meant in the best of ways. 

However, the glow of love lasted them seven years before Jocelyn began to stray from her husband's adoring gaze. Leonard loved his wife and daughter more than anyone in the world. He worked hard to make sure that Joanna could see him at the end of each day plus on the weekends. He made sure to gift his wife with flowers as well as little presents. In a way, his strong love was almost shattered beyond repair when Jocelyn, more beautiful than she'd been that fateful day years ago, served him with divorce papers. 

"Jocelyn, what do ya mean by this? What's gonna happen ta JoJo?" his accent thickened the more he spoke, "Dammit, woman, talk to me!" Leonard snapped finally when she just made a motion for him to sign the papers. 

"I cheated on you with Clay Treadway. I have been for the past five years. I cited irreconcilable differences. Are you going to sign it or not?" she states coldly, making his jaw drop as she dumps that piece of information. 

He pulls them over to himself and reads them through with his lips pressed together, "I'm gonna visit my girl more than a weekend a month. Make it every weekend and I'll sign it." 

"No. That is the only copy. Take it or I'm taking Joanna from you entirely." she's never been this harsh towards him and he signs everything he ever loved away with a scribble of ink.

* * *

The first weekend is a little strained but Leonard makes Joanna's favorites and sits her down. 

"Daddy? Why are you sad?" his baby girl patted his face with her hand, scraping his stubble. Leonard makes a mental note to shave soon. 

"Aww, JoJo, I've just got a bit of heartache. Mommy doesn't love me anymore." he says with a grimace.

"Why not?" Out of the mouth of babes indeed. 

"Well Mommy loves Clay more. Now, are you gonna eat your mac n' cheese or do I have to do it?" He says, the ache in his heart a less as she battles with her fork to keep him away from her food. Leonard cleans up and sets her up in bed, tucking her in with a kiss to her forehead. 

"Daddy?" 

"Hmm?" he's about to leave the door cracked in case she needs anything. 

"Can you tell me a story? Mommy doesn't tell them like you do and Clay's mean. He hasn't told me a single story." she pipes up and he chuckles softly. 

"Baby, you flatter your old man." Leonard drawls with a hand on his chest. 

"It's the truth." Joanna says with all the seriousness a seven-year-old can muster.  
"If you say it like that, I guess it must be true. Which one? Goldilocks? Red Riding Hood?" He cracks his back and she giggles. 

"No. I wanna story about dragons." Leonard's gaze is drawn to the scale that's sat amongst his things from med-school for years. 

Goes to show you forget things sometimes, he thinks with a wry expression. It'll be something that she'll think is fake, "Alright. How about the time I met a dragon?" 

"You met a dragon?! But they're not real. Are they?" She's sitting up now, sleep totally forgotten. 

"This one was." he says as his mind reaches back. "You know, I was your age. My Mom & Dad took me on a vacation to the Caucasus Mountains. They're big and snowy most of the year..." 

"Daddy." she huffs with her little arms crossed. 

"Okay, okay. So I was a little rascal when I was your age and I thought I could explore by myself. I lost the tour group." She gasps at his pronouncement. "I started crying but I remembered my Dad saying that big boys don't cry, so I set off after the flag." 

"Did you get tired?" He smiled at his little girl and smoothed her hair back from her forehead. 

"Oh yeah. Tiny legs can only get so far. I was a bit smaller than you, actually. So I started lookin' for a cave to spend the night cause it was kind of cold; used my flashlight to see if there were any bears. There weren't any so I climbed right on in and made myself snug in the corner." 

"What about the dragon?"

"I'm gettin' there, if a certain little girl wouldn't rush her Daddy." He winked as he tickled her sides. 

"Eeek! Daddy, story." Joanna protests with giggles. 

"It turned out I wasn't all by myself. A man with pointy ears and grey cat eyes loomed over me and he says in this really deep voice, 'You shouldn't be here.' I was shaking like a leaf and then he says, 'Are you lost?' After that, I gave him a right earful. I even cried a bit when I missed my Mom. He made me feel all better." 

"Does he have a name?" 

"Yeah. Smaug. He's a Fire-Drake and he resented being called a fairy. But he shared his food and even brought me back to my folks... I haven't thought about that in years, honey." 

"Wow. Can I tell the other kids?" 

"No. Smaug asked me to keep him a secret but I told you because a McCoy needs to know these sorts of things." he says firmly. "Pinkie promise?" 

"Cross my heart and hope to die, Daddy." They seal the deal and Leonard gets a flashback to all those years ago. He smiles as she settles down to sleep. He has no idea that his world is going to get turned around again. 

By the time Joanna's ten, Jocelyn sues for full-custody with no contact save for what Joanna initiates herself. Leonard is devastated to say the least. 

"You had no right-" he exclaims hoarsely as they exit the room. 

"Actually, I do. She'll write at least once a month. I'll even let her send holo-vids." the sharp way his ex-wife says that particular part had been Joanna's idea. He loves his baby girl so much for that intervention. 

"I hope you enjoy your husband. You stripped me down to the base woman an' let me tell you, it'll be a long time before Joanna forgives you for this." he barks sourly at her back. 

"Oh well. Success is for those who reach for it, Leonard." she spits as she clicks the lock on the car door. He watches as Joanna points to her phone and then his, a message popping up as they drive away from him. 

_From Jo: Hi Dad. She's being an evil witch, ranting about how you're out of her life for good. I'm sorry I couldn't do more._

Leonard almost drops his phone but catches it quickly to type out a reply. 

**From Dad: Baby girl, it's not your fault she's bitter. I'm glad we still get to at least talk. Thank you for that, by the way.**

He hails a hover cab to take him to a bar to get shit-faced but he's careful to keep his phone on the inside pocket of his jacket. It turns out he can't even do that with Starfleet personnel crawling all over his favorite bar. A brawl breaks out and he separates them forcefully with a sedation hypo to the aggressor's neck. The victim is bleeding from his mouth and nose as well as his knuckles, which are bruised and bleeding. 

"What's your name?" he says, knowing this is the best way to counteract anymore fights. 

"Captain Pike." 

"Great. Mind tellin' this ol' country doc why you're messing up his favorite bar?" he asks with a drawl. 

"Oh him? He insulted one of my Cadet recruits. Called her a..."

"Dirty whore? Somethin' like it. I suppose I'd have ta punch out his lights too. Got a baby girl who's gettin' a little old for me ta be callin' her that." Leonard comments as he finishes patching the guy up. "Well, he'll be out for a bit so why don't you take yourself and your recruits back ta what passes for fancy in Atlanta." 

"We could use someone on the Medical Track, you know." Pike offered. 

"Nah. I gotta stay close ta home." 

"Well, can I at least get your name, Doctor? You patched me up pretty well." the Captain presses. 

"Leonard McCoy. Don't you go sharing my name." he wags a finger in warning. "The answer to your question is no. I ain't settin' foot in one of them starships. Space is disease and danger wrapped in darkness and silence. No thank you, Captain." With that, he tucked his hypo away and decided that getting drunk in public was a bad idea. Besides, he had a perfectly good bottle of Kentucky bourbon in his cabinet waiting for him. 

Another cab and he's at home with a tumbler full of it, staring at the scale that he'd almost imagined he'd gotten from Smaug. Hell, no time like the present to test it out. It wasn't like he had anything better to do. Closing his eyes, he sets a finger on the scale and says, "Smaug." A sharp intake of breath revealed snow had somehow gotten into his sweltering Georgia apartment. 

"Leonard? Has it been a few decades already?" The rumbling tone is the same one and he cracks open his eyes to see one very confused dragon standing in the middle of his crappy apartment. 

"Jesus. It actually worked. I honestly thought you were a dream I made up." he wipes a hand down his face and snags a second glass and pours a finger before nudging the rickety chair across from him with his foot. "Have a seat, Smaug." 

"I confess that I did not expect you to use it at all. After you left, the mountain was... boring. I moved several times but I resettled back in the cave where I met you." Smaug murmured after he'd taken a sip of bourbon and glanced at the glass with approval. "Why did you decide to use my scale?" 

"My ex-wife decided that she'd take my little girl from me physically but... I got nothing left here but my Joanna. Where do I go?" The dragon snorted and leaned across the table with it creaking the whole time. 

"Existential crisis and you want my opinion? Leave. Make a fresh start anywhere but here. Humans do it all the time." Smaug waved his hand but kept his grey slit eyes boring into Leonard's hazel. 

"But-"

"Your hind quarters have nothing to do with this unless you move them." the dragon counters with a snort. 

"There's only one place I can go." Leonard resumed staring at his burnt and stained plascrete table. 

"Then go." Smaug vanished right after that, leaving behind only the wisp of snow and a slip of paper with an address on it. 

"Damn dragons and their cryptic as shit words. Goddamn Starfleet and stupid Captains... Jocelyn took everything but my bones. Might as well go where the universe is tellin' me I should be." he thunks his head on the table but puts the bourbon away for later.

* * *

Leonard remembers why he takes flights with a sleeping pill. He's the second to last person on the rickety shuttle and he tells the guy sitting next to him in advance, "I might end up puking on your boots." 

"I'm pretty sure this is safe." The brilliant blue eyes and blond hair look vaguely familiar but he shoves it away in favor of chewing this kid (Leonard is way too old to be starting over like this) out.

"Uh-huh and I'm a goddamn performing monkey. The hull cracks on this thing and our blood boils in thirteen seconds. I'm sure you'll be laughing when you have a case of Andorian shingles that make your eyeballs bleed. Space is disease and danger wrapped in darkness and silence." Leonard counters, forgetting for one second that he's actually in the air headed for San Francisco. 

"Wow. Do you have that memorized or...?" 

"No. I'm a doctor. It's my job to know this sort of thing. Distract me." he snaps as he realizes they're the only two in civilian clothing. 

"Why?" This kid's not half-bad. 

"I have aviaphobia. Now distract me before what I told you comes true." 

"I'm the only genius-level repeat offender in the state of Iowa." Okay then, you get what you ask for with this one. Clearly. "Jim Kirk." 

"Leonard McCoy." 

"So what are you doing here?" The doctor in him wants to treat the obvious black eye and split lip. Damned empathy. 

"My ex-wife took the whole damn planet in the divorce. I got nothing left but my bones." he declared with an unamused expression. 

"Can I call you Bones?" 

"Hell, I don't see why not." Leonard knows they're on different tracks for Starfleet and he's not gonna see this kid again. 

"Great! So, Bones, what track are you on?" 

"Medical. I'm too old for this shit." he sighs as he closes his eyes to keep himself grounded. 

**-Three Years Later-**

Famous last words, Leonard thinks as he hauls a sleepy and intoxicated Jim Kirk back to their room. He had no idea he'd end up saving the kid from swallowing his own tongue because of allergies. 

"Heeey Bones?" the slurred question is one that he's heard many times before. 

"Yes, you overgrown idiot?" he fires right back with his tone full of fondness. 

"Love you." Leonard shakes his head as he lays Jim out on his bed and tugs off both boots and socks in a long-practiced move. 

"I love you too, Jim." he says seriously. 

"Thanks." Jim conks out right after responding, making Leonard just laugh quietly as he tucks his best friend in. 

"Damn kid." he mutters as he gets ready for bed himself. 

He wakes up to make breakfast for Jim's hangover, concocting his famous Morning-After cocktail that Jim's not allergic to so that he can get electrolytes and vitamins back into his best friend's body from the horrid drinking binge. Leonard indulges every great once in a while but never to the point where he blacks out. Eggs, bacon, coffee and hash all make it to the table in perfect condition. Jim drags himself out of bed to plonk his butt in front of said plate and drinks the Morning-After with not even a grimace. 

"... Did I say I love you, Bones?" 

"Yup. I told you the same thing right back. I don't mind you sayin' mushy stuff so long as you're drunk." he points the spatula at Jim and shakes it. "You get mauldin on me when you're sober and I'll hypo you so fast your head will spin." 

"So long as you make breakfast that makes me not want to vomit on sight, I'll keep my super-platonic feels to myself." Jim used his fingertip to cross over his heart. 

"Agreed... And for when it matters kid, I think you're family." he admits gruffly, not looking at Jim as he pokes the scrambling eggs in the pan. 

"Awww Bones you have a heart?" The cooing he could do without, thank you very much. 

"Hypo, Jim, right in the middle of your stupid flirtin' techniques. I swear to God." he snaps but there's no heat behind it. 

"You wouldn't dare." Jim quips back, "I'll take all of the pens in the room." Leonard actually growls at that, whipping around to face his best friend. "Whoa."

"You leave those pens and mah stationary well alone, James Tiberius Kirk. I'll kick your ass from here ta Georgia an' back." he keeps those for reasons and all of them are named Smaug. 

"Okay! Okay, no touchy the pens; got it. Why are they so important anyway?" Jim's like a puppy; always nosing into things but Leonard can't bring himself to say no. It's those puppy-eyes he swears up and down that Jim perfected on him. 

"I use 'em ta communicate. What did ya think they were for?" he grumbled as he served himself breakfast and stole Jim's uneaten toast with a smirk. 

"Uhh, bragging rights that you use actual paper?" Jim asks, scratching his head. 

"It was a gift and an expensive one at that." Leonard finally admits. "From my pen-pal." 

"Are you old or... Do people even do that anymore?" There's honest confusion this time around. 

"Yes people still do it, ya dolt." he slaps the back of Jim's head with a calculated amount of force. 

"Oww..." 

"Oh quit whining. I barely touched you. We've got class in half an hour. Go shower after you're done. I call it first." Leonard commented even as he gently rubbed the back of Jim's head. 

"Hey! You have a free period while Command doesn't. No fair." The complaint was legitimate but he'd already called dibs on the shower. 

"I called it, Jim. You gonna sass me?" 

"No." The pout made him steel his facial expression. 

"Goddammit, Jim, I won't give in to that pout again." He does though, same as always with a faint smile gracing his lips. 

Sitting in the sunlight with his paper and headphones, Leonard pulls out Smaug's last letter. 

_Dear Leonard,_

_I believe my mountain may be attracting more attention than I wish it to have. Last week alone had several hiking groups on my slopes. I had forgotten that your tour group was at least considerate of the local wildlife. The last three have irked my prey into hiding in the deeper crevasses and caverns. I am inclined to keep them off the mountain entirely at this rate but I know you would not approve of my roasting the interlopers. Indeed, said thought is what keeps my fires banked as opposed to unleashed._

_I find myself intrigued by your last letter that included your adventures with Jim Kirk. Is he always so clumsy or is it his nature to find trouble? Perhaps he would tell you that trouble follows him. It seems more often than not that you are saving him. However, he seems capable of untangling any mess he makes out of sheer charisma. He must be very convincing._

_How is your daughter? I take it she is busy with schooling but I would wonder what subjects are taught in this age of technology. I find I have much to catch up on. I will assume there have been more wars than the one I witnessed some time in the mid-1900s by complete accident. I do need new reading material. I have read all that the solar-powered PADD you sent me last time contains._

_Such advancement in so short a time indicates a creativity I had previously not attributed to humanity and Men in general. You defy that out-dated assumption every time you continue to write to me, Leonard. I may not have said this before but I believe I would have passed from sheer boredom had you not stumbled into my cave all those decades ago. I owe you my thanks many times over._

_I send my regards to your friend in the hopes that he may be less clumsy in your presence._

_Your friend,_

_Smaug_

_P. S. We never did figure out a proper surname. Have you managed to pick one out?_

He laughs at some of the lines but doesn't expect anyone to be sitting across from him when he looks up. 

"Oh. Sorry. It's just that almost no one uses such a format nowadays. Are you Science track?" The woman's beautiful and far too young to be flirting with him. 

"Medical, Missy, and I don't see why you aren't in class with the rest of your Track. Aren't you in Communications? They have a class in Vulcan." He pulls one of the headphones away from his ear reluctantly. "Haven't you ever heard of the headphones rule?" 

"I have-"

"Then you should know that I'm busy listenin' ta 21st century music and I'm writin' so shoo." he tells her politely while deliberately placing the headphone back over his ear as he sets pen to paper. 

**Dear Smaug,**

**I appreciate you not frying my fellow humans but I'm sure you can singe a few if they get too close to your territory. Your prey does come back out though, right? I wouldn't want my favorite dragon to starve on the mountain he calls home. You want me to send a few 'Keep off the Mountain' signs? Or maybe a care-package like a cow herd? Haha. I can imagine the mailman scratching his head and then you swooping down to take one of the cows (or maybe yaks instead) for dinner.**

**Jim Kirk is very persuasive; so much so that I folded on taking my shower first. It's those goddamn puppy-eyes that he's somehow perfected on me. They're big an' blue and downright watery when he gets in a mood. I've folded more times than I care to count 'cause of that kid. But... He's family like JoJo, the little brother I never wanted but I love anyway; even if he is the only genius-level repeat offender in Iowa. By the way, I asked him that and he says that trouble comes lookin' for him instead of the other way around.**

**You know that idiot almost choked on his own tongue once? The oil they used to cook the burger was peanut and guess who's allergic to half the shit on Earth? Jim Kirk. I had to inject him with three different hypos before I found the meds he wasn't allergic to on sight. Watchin' Jim is a full-time job but I wouldn't have it any other way.**

**Joanna's followin' in my footsteps just to piss her mother off. She says she likes being a nurse but I can tell her pretty little heart is set on machines like her Grandmother before her, God bless. She can fix a PADD in ninety seconds flat. I'll have her solar-power the next one I planned on gettin' you anyway. I figured you'd finished with it by now.**

**Well if you owed me it was repaid when you told me to get my ass in gear and do somethin' with my life. Starfleet may not be what I planned when I was twenty-eight but it sure as hell beats bein' stared at piteously while on the job at any hospital in Atlanta. So I ought be thanking you, if anything. I gave your post script a good think through and I got it. You can say no if you like but I think it works. Drakkon, Aviant or Harker are my choices for a surname. Did you have an idea for what you wanted?**

**Jim sends his regards back and hopes you don't quit writing me because, and I quote, "You make Bones less grumpy than he normally is."**

**Your friend,**

**Leonard**

He sighs as he sets down the pen right as the bell rings for his remedial med-class. Being a doctor already, he's acing the damned thing and soon they'll put him with the advanced students. Folding up the letter and tucking it into an envelope before he gathers his materials, he stops when he sees the purple sticky-note on his stationary box. 

_**I'd like to do my thesis on you and your pen-pal because you're using what's considered out-dated media to communicate on a personal level. If you don't mind, my room is 208 and I room with an Orion named Galia. -N. Uhura** _

_**P.S. How did you know my Track so easily?** _

Leonard snorts as he finishes addressing his letter to Smaug's PO box. That'd been easy enough; chapped lips and callouses on fingertips left only two Tracks, Security or Communications. He'd figured the latter because she hadn't taken no or go away for an answer. Putting the stamps on and walking over to the post box, he flicked the letter inside with a practiced hand as he made his way to class. He enters just after the teacher does, sets up his PADD and flicks through last sessions's notes out of habit. 

"Oh, McCoy, I'm glad you're here. We've decided to put you in the advanced classes. Get going or it'll start without you." He keeps ahold of his PADD, not bothering to put away the one thing he'll need for the right class. The clipped pace across the courtyard startled some of the other Cadets but Leonard's not missing this. Creaking open the door means the entire class's attention is on him, looking at him like he murdered someone and still had blood on him. 

"McCoy, I see your instructor got you the message. You can sit next to M'Benga." The man waves from a spot in the middle, the seats next to him completely empty. Leonard hefts his bag and climbs up the stairs to settle in, pulling up his notes screen easily and waits for the instructor to speak. After a moment of silence, the instructor starts writing on the board and it's then that Leonard realizes what disease it is. He internally flinches when the instructor's gaze lands on him as he's pulling up his old notes on his Dad's condition. "Has anyone had personal experience with Toxic neurosystemia?" Leonard's lips press thin as he raises his hand. "Oh. My apologies. You may leave-"

"I'd rather not, Instructor. I've already seen what it can do." he counters quietly but clear as a bell due to the sudden silence of the class. The instructor goes on to inform the rest of the class how it slowly breaks down every functioning system in the body until the only thing that could be done before the cure was to humanely euthanize a person. 

The only reason Leonard knew of the cure was because he'd invented the damned thing and had done his damnedest to make sure no one else knew what it felt like to have family fall apart before your very eyes. The rest of the class was less tense as the instructor started a review of the last time the class had been together. He smiled slightly as he knew most of the terms but would have to look up a few. This was challenging his brain and not the other class. When they're dismissed, M'Benga touched his arm to catch his attention. 

"I don't have a partner to study with."

"That's my problem how?" he drawled with a raised eyebrow. "I'm caught up on everything but a few terms." 

"No one wants to partner with me." comes the answer, "I was hoping that maybe you'd be different." 

"Hell, so long as you don't use puppy-eyes on me I suppose we can study. This doesn't mean I'm adopting a rag-tag group. I've already got one idiot to chase after." he sighs as he walks out to lunch. Jim's got yet another black eye from practicing with the Security Track and Leonard throws his hands up in defeat. "Again? Was it Giotto? I'll dose his morning protein shake with a goddamn laxative if he keeps giving you these Jim." 

"Would you?" M'Benga asked in a worried voice. 

"If he hurts Jim, I'll him make so sorry that he'll wish he hadn't started this crap with Jim in the first place. Unless you're still calling him Cupcake?" Leonard turns to Jim to check if he has, in which case the bruising still isn't deserved. 

"Nope. I stopped after the third time I ended up with one of these." Jim gestures to his face and the bruising. He takes out the regenerator, then the dermal regenerator to use on his best friend's face. 

"Are you two dating?" M'Benga looks between them and it's Jim who cracks up laughing first. "... I take that as a no?"

"If I was into dating the man who acts like my older brother, then sure, but I'm not. Don't get me wrong, Leonard's pretty decent but not my type." Jim says with a shake of his head and pushes over a tray of ham that the kitchen swears is country ham (Leonard knows they just empty it out onto a pan and fry it), green beans and collared greens. "I'm trying to get the chef to let Bones into the kitchen so he can show us all some real Southern cooking." 

"You cook?" the incredulity makes him cross his arms and frown at his new study partner. "Okay." 

"We haven't traded names yet, so don't think anything. Name's Leonard McCoy an' no you can't use Jim's ridiculous nickname for me." he wags a finger at M'Benga as he eats his greens. 

"Geoffrey M'Benga. I'll answer to Jabilo in a hurry though." 

"Cool. Can I call you Geoff?" Jim's easily the most flexible out of their group and it shows.

* * *

Leonard forgets all about the Communications Cadet until his next letter from Smaug arrives in the mail. She appears at his elbow like a cat, speaking as she peers over his shoulder. 

"Oh. That's pretty far for a letter to go from here." she says with amazement.  
Leonard almost hits her with his elbow and holds his letter a little tighter. "Jesus! You don't go sneakin' up on someone like that. Gives 'em a heart attack." 

"My apologies, Doctor." she nods towards the thick parchment envelope that hasn't crinkled at all under his grip. "The letter?" 

"Oh. I forgot about that. Sorry, I've been a bit busy. Advanced classes and all." he replies as he smoothed a thumb over the address it came from. "I'm gonna go read this an' then maybe I'll see what I can do ta get to your room? Is this part of your grade?" 

"Yes. Everyone else is doing the advancements of technology and how it affects communication. I thought I might go in the opposite direction once I saw you writing on paper. Since you might have forgotten, my name's Nyota Uhura and I live in 208 across from your dorms. My roommate's an Orion so she'll hit on everything that moves. She likes doctors; be careful how you knock." Nyota concludes as she hands him a key card. 

"Thanks." he murmurs as he glances at the glitter on the end of the card. 

"We'll see who's thanking who by the end of the session." she hums as she sashays towards the Engineering Track dorms. Leonard gets back to his shared room with Jim and opens the envelope on his bed. Something drops out of it so he picks it up. It's a little dragon figurine carved out of wood and has detailing burnt into it. There's also a long length of dark cord attached to the figurine, obviously for wearing the gift. 

_Dear Leonard,_

_Your imagination is as vivid as ever, I see. My prey does come back out of the woodworks, so to speak, after the humans leave. There hasn't been a necessity to singe anyone but I'm glad you would accept my fire-breathing on unsuspecting humans. As for sending me a care package, my favorite is actually mutton. Cow is too thick and yak even more so for my digestive system. The mountain goats and wild sheep supplement my diet most of the time, although I am partial to horse (ponies especially). I am the ONLY dragon you know, Leonard. Flattery will get you somewhere because dragons do love compliments._

_It sounds like you're close to him. As for trouble following him... Well, I've known a few beings in my time that bit off more than they could chew by complete accident. As for your doctoring abilities, I fervently wish you had been born sooner. I have an old scar that acts up now and again that gives me a great deal of pain. Perhaps when you are on break for winter, you could visit? I do miss the company of a sharp mind and re-read your letters often. There are only so many books one can read before one gets bored._

_I have carved a likeness of my other form and have enclosed it in the envelope. It would make me quite pleased if you wore it. The cord should be sized for either your neck or wrist. Magic is surprisingly accommodating when it comes to making gifts. Before you protest that magic isn't real, you're reading a letter written by a seven-thousand-year-old dragon. Think about it._

_Encourage her to follow what she dreams of doing. It seems that McCoys are best put to use with their hands as evidenced by your stories of Jim. I recall your firm stance as a child. Your conviction to do the right thing has not changed in the least._

_As for your choices in surnames, they are diverse but I think I prefer Harker. It is simple but still rolls off the tongue quite nicely. I spent days talking to myself to test each out in it's full capacity. I apologize if that seems a tad queer._

_Finally, to Jim Kirk, I am glad that I make Leonard less grumpy. He was much more pleasant as a child, I assure you._

_(Not that I do not find you pleasant now.) You were merely simpler and childish three decades ago as was appropriate. Oh dear. I hope that has not offended you in any fashion, Leonard._

_Your friend,_

_Smaug_

Leonard raises an eyebrow at the letter when Smaug apologizes. No one ever apologizes to him. He guesses there's a first time for everything. He takes the necklace and clips it around his neck, tucking the cord under his shirt. The wood is quite warm, which reminds Leonard of Smaug; he's sure that's why the dragon sent the gift.

**Dear Smaug,**

**Flattery works on dragons? Now that's a tid-bit the books never mentioned. I've never asked (I'm not sure if it's rude or not) but do you have a hoard? If that's rude, don't answer. I'm glad you're staying healthy.**

**You sound pretty lonely. Aren't there... I don't know... lady dragons? Or are you the last one and I'm probably toeing a line I shouldn't? I'll come visit. Those mountains are definitely not a hardship to go back to that's for sure. Besides, JoJo's gonna record me a Christmas message and send it to me a week before I get out for break. You can watch it with me. Trade presents maybe? Not sure what to get a dragon, to be honest with you...**

**I'm wearing your gift. It's warm and reminds me of you. As for magic existing? Well, too many tales have it so that means a smidgeon has to be true. I don't doubt for a second that it's real. Heck, I still believe in all those fairy-tales because of you. Meeting a real-live dragon changed my whole perspective on things like that; not that I told anyone except for Joanna and I wrung a promise from her too. I told her of our meeting as a bed-time story. I'm not sure if she thinks I'm crazy or she was jus'... indulging her old man. She was about the same age I was when I met you.**

**I did tell her. She's stubborn though. I think she gets it from my side of the family; my ex-wife's a big flip-flopper when it comes to supportin' things. Gonna send her the broken PADDs anyway. I think she'll have more fun with those.**

**Harker, huh? I pulled it from some novel written in the 1800s. I like it. Smaug Harker. Suits you, you know, since it's not too harsh. Jim says that he wants to learn more about me as a kid but I ain't tellin' him squat. I already tell him enough as it is when I get drunk in our shared room and empty out a bottle of Kentucky bourbon between us. That's the stuff you had the last time you saw me.**

**I don't take any offense. Hell, you're the only other being with the knowledge that Jim has. I think I might be collecting strays from the other Tracks by accident. Oh boy. This oughta end well...**

**Your friend,**

**Leonard**

**P.S. Break's only a few weeks away. Can you hold on that long?**

He folds it, tucking it inside the envelope and then spots the impromptu pictures taken with Jim. Leonard snags the one where he's laughing at Jim and puts it inside before he can think it over. Writing out the address takes him moments before he's sending it off to a snowy place. That poor mail-man must be exhausted going up and down the mountain by now. He makes his way to the Communications Track dorms and gets halted by a Cadet at the door. 

"Science blues? What are you doing here?" 

"Medical blues. I have an invitation." he counters with a wave of the card key. "Uhura and I are working on a project." 

"Oh." the surprised tone is enough to let Leonard past him and into the communications hub. He gets no glances here as he makes his way to room 208. Knocking sharply, he gets greeted by an enthusiastic hug before lips are headed for his mouth. He raises his hand and that gets kissed instead. 

"Galia! That is Leonard, the one I was telling you about not five minutes ago?" Uhura sounds frustrated with her roommate. 

"Orion pheromones don't bother me." 

"You're gay?" 

"Nope. Just not interested in any sort of relationship at the moment." It's true and he knows that it seems strange to everyone else but Jocelyn hurt him real bad. "I'm too old for you anyway."

"Mmm, but older men have more stamina..." Galia pouts at him cutely but he snorts. "You really are immune. Poo." 

"It's called an evil ex-wife." he snaps sourly, instantly apalled his tone towards a lady. "'M sorry. That wasn't very gentlemanly of me." 

"Ooohhh. Oh. I think that counts as immunity of pheromones any day. It's okay, you didn't actually mean to snap at me didn't you?" Galia asked sweetly. 

"Not a bit of it. So, what was that project you were talkin' about?" 

"What it is like communicating on what seems to many like an out-dated media. Simple enough. I'll be changing your name to protect your identity." Uhura murmurs as she gets out her PADD to take notes. "Is that the only time you use that?" 

"I use my PADD for everything else. He's old-fashioned, my pen-pal. A bit reclusive but that's normal." he says as he flicks through his PADD to go to his class notes. "You mind if I study?" 

"No, not much." she replies as she types quickly. "Have you met?" 

"Once. I was a kid. He was... older." Oh, Leonard was stretching the truth so far right now. He's glad he spun all those tales for Joanna when she was smaller. 

"How much?"

"Old enough, Ms. Uhura." he counters with a drawl. "Didn't speak for a couple of decades before I got a letter in the mail with that address. I recognized it and then it went from there. Simple." 

"Oh. It... It sounds a bit like a romance novel. You know, one of those cheesy 21st century ones?" Uhura hesitated to finish her sentence but when seen from the outside, he guessed it could be seen that way. 

"I do; my Mother used ta read 'em when she felt particularly sappy." Leonard offers with a wry sort of smile. "Is that all you needed?" 

"Can I get his last name?" Uhura asked gently. 

"Harker. I thought you were gonna change the names?" he questioned as he turned to look at her from the chair he was situated in.

"I am. I just need to make sure they sound close." Okay, that didn't sound so bad. 

"Oh. Stayin' true to our story?" 

"As much as I can manage." she nods as she finishes typing like a maniac. 

"Can I see it before it gets to your instructor?" The last bit is him wanting to get Smaug's permission to do this in the first place. 

"Sure."

* * *

**-Winter Break; Star Date December of 2263-**

His breath unfurls in the cold mountain air like dragon's breath and that makes him smile. Leonard's guide looks at him like he's crazy but he does it anyway. When he starts recognizing rocks from his tour guide's lecture, he stops. 

"You can go back down! I've got it from here!" he shouts above the winter winds that whistle through the mountain passes. 

"Okay, Doctor!" The guide salutes him strangely and he shuffles through the ridiculous amount of snow to reach Smaug's cave. There's a door carved into the side of the mountain and he realizes that Smaug must have done something to get it like this on such short notice. 

He knocks on the door and Smaug greets him with a hesitant hug, "Your last letter said you were on your way. Thank you." 

"Ah, don't thank me just yet. Wait until you see my presents." he says from under his scarf. The door closes and he's dripping onto the welcome mat like there's no tomorrow.

"Remove your garments. I have a rack for you to dry them on. I was setting up when you arrived." Smaug called back. The cavern is bigger than he remembers it, the ceiling much higher and broader. "You like how I carved out the cave?" 

"You did that? It's bigger, that's for sure. I know I came in on a shortened time-line." Leonard admits sheepishly as he shucks all the winter gear and gets down to his two pairs of socks, jeans and a light sweater. Smaug glances down at the ridiculous rainbow sheep that adorn his socks and chuckles softly. "A gag gift from Jim. I don't think he thought I would wear them. They're actually pretty warm." Leonard wiggled his toes as the floor heated under his feet. 

"Put your pack up on the shelf, please." Smaug says instead of commenting on Jim's gift. 

"Sure thing." He sets up on a rock shelf that definitely hadn't been there before. "You changed a lot." 

"I did. There was not much to do aside from writing back to your letters and laying on my hoard. Yes, I have one." the amused answer makes Leonard blush. "There are no other Drakes. I have survived only because I avoided the humans and the last Wyrm was slain by St. George. Drakes are notorious for surviving the most grevious of wounds."

"Speakin' of which, you wanted me to take a look at something?" He switches to Doctor mode easily enough as he pulls out his kit. 

"Only if you are comfortable doing so, Leonard." 

"You can call me Leo, you know." He pulled the tricorder out of his pack and scanned Smaug with it. The body temperature was higher than he expected but he assumed that was normal for a being based in fire. "Is this thing right? Your natural temperature is nearly 2000 degrees Celcius?" 

"Mmm, yes. Fire-Drakes usually burn hotter but I'm holding my human form so the temperature is lowered tremendously."

"Where's the scar-tissue?" he asks instead of studying the readings. 

"Here." Smaug takes off the casual black turtleneck to reveal a scale pattern on his torso in brilliant crimson just like the scale Leonard brought along with him. The scar is massive, nearly taking over Smaug's left pectoral muscle. "I recieved the wound some millennia ago in my dragon form. It took me centuries to recover enough to resume my proper form." 

"If you're made of fire, why aren't your eyes golden or at least red?" Leonard asked after a moment of running the tricorder over the scar tissue. 

"Human forms are tricky. We're supposed to blend in, not stand out. I have an even closer form but this is human enough when I am alone most of the time." Smaug explains as Leonard taps at the scar tissue, testing it's strength. 

"Mmm. Makes sense. How deep does this go?" 

"All the way to my heart. It was not pleasant to grow heart tissues again." Smaug manages with a grimace. "I'm not particularly fond of arrows." 

"Who the hell would shoot you with an arrow?" he queries, barely remaining calm. 

"I was not always... kind. As a matter of fact, I took over an ancestral home because they had what I wanted." It looks like it's painful for him to say that. "I do not like being reminded of my past mistakes. They are already burnt into my memory. Tell me about Joanna." 

"She's growin' like a weed. Almost as tall as my ex-wife at this point. My family's pretty tall, so I guess she gets it from my side." Leonard keeps up a running commentary. 

"Indeed. Leonard, what are you doing?" He injected a series of liquid regenerators into Smaug's scar tissue to break down the thick parts and let it heal over a little thinner. "That is a very queer sensation." 

"Yeah. You get used to it after a while. It's to break down the scar tissue until it softens a bit and I can try to make it a bit smaller." he explains as he watches the thicker parts slowly lower. 

"Oh. I think it worked." Smaug takes a hand and presses at the healed scar that's a little better. "Amazing. The medical advances are definitely an advantage this century." 

"Is that good? Or do you want more of it gone?" 

"The scar will remain. It will not fade entirely as it does on your human patients, Leonard." 

"Leo. I don't let many people call me that." he counters. 

"Very well... Leo." the wry smile is just what he was looking for on the dragon. 

Christmas rolls around soon enough and he's sitting next to Smaug in the pile of cushions the dragon prefers is near the fire. They've already opened most of Leonard's presents and have yet to watch Joanna's holo-vid. 

"Hi, Daddy. I'm happy with the tool-box you got me and the Starfleet Engineering outfit. I miss you a whole bunch an' Mom won't quit harpin' on me about how I'm gonna be an awful nurse. I'm smart enough to do both Tracks. I know I am. Sorry." Joanna looks more and more like his Mother than Jocelyn everyday. "Anyway, Merry Christmas and say hello to Jim for me, okay? Love you. McCoy over and out." She presses two fingers to her lips and then holds them up. Leonard feels no shame in doing the same to the holo-vid, his eyes a bit misty. It bleeps and a secondary message pops up as well. "Oh, and Daddy? Go date somebody." He shakes his head and gives a shaky laugh. 

"That's mah girl." Smaug just sits beside him, warmth pressing against his shoulder while he collects himself for a moment. He clears his throat and hops up to get Smaug's gift. When he turns around again, Smaug is scratching the back of his head and holding out a package of his own. They trade boxes and tear into the paper. Leonard coughs as he realizes what Smaug had gotten him. A thick, leather-bound book is embossed with the words 'The Adventures of the Fire-Drake, Smaug the Terrible.' He looks up to see Smaug staring into his box with a damn-near unreadable expression. "Hell, did I-"

"That is incredibly thoughtful. Never think that I dislike this gift." The gift was a sapphire, as large as he could afford on his Cadet pay and woven around it are platinum wires to create a delicate pendant. "I would like to put it on with your help." Leonard attaches the chain clasp and the jewel sits in the center of Smaug's chest like it belongs. He wonders faintly if he fits like that in anyone else's life; maybe he's the missing puzzle piece from Smaug or maybe it's the other way around.


	3. Reality Sucks; Dragons Are Great Distractions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is intriguing because my concepts converge here more than I expected. I'm sure you all want to see how my mind works. Not. 
> 
> Due to a question asked by a good friend of mine, the other couples you see in the relationships section will be getting their own Interludes as chapters. They interact with the other couples and it all comes together around this story but may be set before, during or after. I need your input but Spock and Jim will be first on the Interlude list because well... Jim and Spock are awesome like that. 
> 
> Enjoy the third chapter. Ta!

* * *

The Nero Incident. That's what the Federation calls it. Jim labels it The Shitstorm and can't be coaxed into naming it anything else. Leonard? Well, Leonard's just tired of finding his fellow cadets dead and having to label the bodies for their families is the Medical Track's job. Personally, he calls it The Massacre of Innocents but it's long so he shortens it to the Massacre. Spock... Shit, Spock is the worst he's ever seen the normally unflappable half-Vulcan. He doesn't even want to talk about the Vulcan refugees on the ship that stay in that tight-knit group that doesn't include the hobgoblin for some stupid reason. Leonard's given up on trying to cajole them into healing and just outright curses his luck some days. Just when he's so stressed he can't think straight, Nurse Chapel hands him his PADD. It's Smaug's private screen and he slumps into his office chair, locking the door with his code.

"Leonard? Have you gotten any sleep since this disaster struck?" Smaug's tone is worried and Leonard knows he has a right to be. The sapphire pendant sits snug on the dragon's chest, gleaming even through the godawful connection he has to Earth. The sight of his present around the dragon's neck makes him smile a little. "Your eyes have black circles under them. Do not make me come out there with magic and force you to sleep, Leo."

"I will after this call is over. Promise, Smaug. How's the mountain?" he asks to keep his mind off the dead bodies that will still await him in the ship's morgue. The only thing that keeps him stable is the fact that some of the officers assigned to the USS Farragut as well as a few other star-ships are alive and breathing on the Enterprise.

"Interesting. A few Federation aliens have a thing for mountains that don't belong to them. I've been contemplating driving them away with my fire. They're temperature-sensitive so they obviously know I'm in here. I'm just waiting them out. I have enough supplies to last a few months and none of them have tried to get into my Den yet." Smaug shrugs as he stretches, the black turtleneck emphasizing the pale skin and the pattern of garnet scales that swirl delicately on the dragon's face. Leonard tries and succeeds in pushing his blush away. Those weren't thoughts that people had about friends, after all.

"Really?" The nonchalant tone obviously goes over well.

"Mmm-hmm. Joanna has messaged me several times a day to make sure I am not lonely. Her words, not mine, Leo." the dragon informs him succiently.

"She's like her Grandmother that way. Always helping other people out." He laughs at the thought of his thirteen-year-old daughter sending the same sort of messages she sends him everyday.

"She sends the same to you?" the raised eyebrow made Leonard smile wider.

"Yup. It's gonna be a bit... rough when we get back to Earth. Think we can postpone our tour of San Francsico until after all of the ceremonies are done?" Leonard admits frankly, scraping a hand over his face and realizing that maybe he does look like death warmed over. The obvious stubble doesn't help either.

"I've rented a room for a while. I assumed the highlights of the city would take some time but yes we can delay the tour. As I said, I came because I wanted to see you." Smaug reminded him, glancing back at a loud noise in front of his cave doorway. "I will see you when the ceremonies are over, Leo. This I promise you. Harker out." The screen shuts off and Leonard does as asked and goes to bed without prompting from his Nurse.

"McCoy, who was on the other end that convinced you to sleep?" she asks incredulously as she tucks the covers around his shoulders.

"My best friend aside from Jim." he slurs as he falls asleep within seconds.

* * *

Leonard stands stiffly alongside Galia and the rest of the surviving third-year cadets as they play the songs. Speeches of bravery and victory are dully responded to by the others as they wrap up the ceremony by trying to award those in leadership positions. Leonard scoffs as no one steps forward for the awards that won't bring back the thousands of friends and fellow cadets. It's a good thing that after the speeches, the cameras had been turned off.

"Why won't you take the awards?" one of the Admiralty asked the entire group. Leonard finds himself answering in the ringing silence.

"No offense, sir, but those official pieces of paper aren't going to bring back anyone. It won't ease the burden that this incident has caused on the Instructor group as well as the cadets. We'd prefer to remember them without all this pomp and circumstance." he finishes strongly, bowing his head and feeling the remaining Instructors and Cadets do the same. The silence stretches into the respectful before they all raise their heads again and in unison, snap a salute for those no longer there. "That's how we'd like it."

They're dismissed after that comment and a lot of Cadets who thought the same thing pat him on the back as he makes his way towards the family reception area. He knows no one's going to be-Or his sneaky little girl and his other best friend had other ideas. Joanna happily waves from where she's holding up a glittery poster that leaves a practical river of the stuff showing where they'd been.

"Daddy!" she drops the poster and hugs the living daylights out of him. He squeezes back just as hard. It's been a long time since he's seen his baby girl in person and he loves her so much.

"JoJo." he whispers into her curly brunette hair. "Love you."

"Love you too Daddy." she says back. "It was Smaug's idea but I'm spending the summer here for an Engineering internship."

"You make me so proud." Leonard chokes out as the tears slip down his face and into her hair. A warm presence engulfs them both which makes Leonard looks up into the familiar gaze of the dragon. Smaug just wipes away his tears and motions with his head that Jim's brother as well as his wife are looking over at them along with Jim. He clears his throat, strokes back Joanna's curls and hugs Smaug before waiting for Jim to drag the only family who actually cares over to him.

"Is this the Joanna I keep hearing so much about?" Jim says as he holds out his hand. Joanna does the McCoy usual and hugs Jim instead. "Hi. I'm Jim Kirk."

"Hi. I've heard a lot about how you get into trouble from Daddy." she chirrups back. Jim looks taken aback for a second before he laughs.

"Okay, okay. This is Sam and his wife Aurelean. Their brats are back at the hotel they reserved. And you are?"

"Smaug Harker, Leonard's pen-pal." Smaug holds out his hand to shake and Jim does it with a cocked head.

"Wow. I wasn't sure if you were real but you are. Man, I owe Uhura a hundred credit chips..." Of course there was a bet; his rag-tag group couldn't leave things well enough alone. "Wait a sec. As in Harker Antiques and Fine Art?"

"The very same." Smaug murmured dryly with a smirk.

"Jim, you didn't tell me your friend knew one of the newest billionaires on the block." Sam shook his head at that and Leonard finally got it.

"Smaug, can I talk to you for a second? JoJo, stay with Jim." He drags Smaug off to a corner and hisses, "When did that happen?"

"I can assure you that I was going to tell you as soon as I could. Your friend is rather keen and sharp-minded. I sold a small portion of my hoard before your mission started and the topic never came up. My deepest apologies, Leonard." The grey slits were wide and round as the dragon spoke with embarrassment lacing his tone. "It turns out that even a tiny bit from my hoard is historically important as I've been adding to it for millennia and it holds several pieces that connect Earthen societies."

"What about those Federation aliens?" Leonard snorts as he takes that tidbit in and accepts the apology easily.

"They left the mountain after I ran across one trying to sneak into my hoard. It was rather... battered when I brought it back in my true form. They have not come back nor has the Federation sent anyone to investigate." Smaug admitted with a shrug and a slight blush.

"Huh. That's probably because they're short-handed. One of us might get it when Starfleet processes all of the new instructors and cadet influx." he murmurs as he grabs the sleeve of Smaug's thick jacket (it's cold this time of the year) and tugs them back over to a slightly confused group of Kirks plus one McCoy.

"Done having your pow-wow?" Jim huffs but there's no venom behind it.

"Yeah, puppy, we are." Leonard ruffles Jim's hair and slings a companionable arm around his shoulder. "You shouldn't be jealous of Smaug."

"Who said anything about jealous?" Jim shoots him a look that could be considered snippy. Leonard falls behind with Jim as the rest of the group converses with his daughter, Aurelean making expressive gestures.

"Jim, you're my best friend. Smaug's... different but in a good way." He said quietly as they touched foreheads. "Okay?"

"Different? What do you mean?" Leonard flushes pink and glances in Smaug's direction. "Oh. _Oh._ Bones, when'd that happen?"

"Nothing happened, you idiot, and nothing's coming of it either." he sighs as he ruffles Jim's hair again and shoves him forward. The genius just sticks his tongue out, blowing a raspberry. "Real mature, Jim."

* * *

They all go out to lunch after Joanna declares that she requires sustenance. Leonard snorts at the old movie reference, as do the Kirk trio. Smaug just looks confused so he explains it to the dragon.

"It's an old 2000s holo-vid. It had something to do with comics and Demi-gods. I watched it with Joanna because they had a marathon of it on TV." he says as they sit down in one of Jim and Leonard's prefered spots in the city. It's known for the influx of Cadets but likes to keep the privacy of it's clients in any way possible; it's half the reason they chose it for lunch. The other half is the food that doesn't leave Jim with any problems.

"So, you've had experience with Jim's allergies, haven't you?"

"I got three sheets of that... crap memorized and I can identify at least two-thirds on sight. I ended up saving him from choking on his tongue." Leonard points out as they order their food, mindful of Joanna's presence.

"Daddy, Clay curses all the time." she sighs as he glances at her to make sure it's okay.

"But I don't like doin' that in front of you. You know that."

"I know."

"How'd you meet Jim?" Sam asks as a way to break what little tension there is in the booth.

"The shuttle to Starfleet. I told him I might puke on those scuffed up boots he owns and he distracted me from my aviaphobia." Leonard says with a nudge of his foot against Jim's under the table.

"I said that I was the only repeat genius-level offender in the Midwest and then introduced myself. We've been best friends ever since." Jim hummed as he ate his shrimp appetizer. Now that Jim was no longer worried about Smaug, he was back to his mischievous self. "He even knew the rest of our group before I did. Galia, that's the Orion that's flirting with me all the time, tried kissing him. He said he wasn't interested and that he had a project with Uhura. He kind of accidentally made friends with her and then her group of misfits sort of became ours. Bones was grumping about it the entire time, saying that he was a doctor not an adoption center."

"I did not say that. I said that I wasn't too keen on helping any more people. It was your puppy-eyes that convinced me otherwise." he pointed his mozzarella stick at Jim, frowning at his best friend over it.

"Come on, Bones, you know you were dying to say it." The blue eyes looked up from under ridiculously long lashes and he sighed as he dragged a hand down his face.

"... Alright, maybe I was but I wasn' about to give you the satisfaction of sayin' it just so you and Scotty could high-five for the nth time in a row. I lost count after a hundred and twenty-three."

"Yes! Sammy, high-five." Sam Kirk obliged with a roll of his eyes. "What?"

"Honestly, I don't know how you put up with him sometimes. He keeps calling you Bones. Why is that?" the older Kirk asked with a mild curiosity. He could see where Jim's seemingly boundless energy came from; apparently it was a Kirk thing.

"My name's actually Leonard McCoy but my ex took the whole planet in the divorce an' th' only reason Joanna's sittin' here with us is because she's visitin' of her own free will. What I said to Jim was that she took everything but my bones and he hasn't quit callin' me that since." he explained as the actual food-platters were set down on their booth table.

"The accent sounds familiar."

"Georgia."

"I'm a Florida girl myself." Aurelean chuckled over her salad.

"North or South?" he asks, stirring sugar into Joanna's tea even as he's talking with Aurelean.

"North."

"Southern Georgia then." he counters with a smile.

"Daddy. That's enough sugar for now." Leonard's smile turns sheepish as he sees the three packets of sugar next to her tea.

"Sorry, JoJo." He puts nothing in his tea, offering Joanna his lemon wedge. "Lemon?"

"I forgot you take yours plain, Daddy." she says as she stirs her tea with gentle clanks of the long spoon against the glass.

"That's okay." he says after he chews a bite of his sandwich. Smaug's been eating quietly and every so often steals a curly fry off of Leonard's plate while he's busy chit-chatting with Sam Kirk. They brush shoulders frequently but Leonard's never been more comfortable between his baby girl and his dragon. Shit. Since when had Smaug become his dragon? His internal debate pinpoints the moment when they exchanged gifts and he nearly chokes on his tea. Trust him to have an epiphany with everyone present.

"Are you alright, Leo?" Smaug asks as he clears his throat from the tea.

"Mfine. Just gimme a sec." he slows his breathing and makes sure his airway isn't obstructed anymore. "Just thought of something, is all."

"Quite the thought." Smaug counters with a gesture towards the rest of the group that looks worried. "Care to share?"

"Oh no. No, this is one of the personal sort, thanks." Leonard mutters as Smaug glances at him with his head cocked to the side like Jim usually does and it makes the butterflies in his stomach flutter madly.

The tips of his ears go pink as he pokes at his remaining pile of curly fries without looking at anyone. They all go back to their conversations with various looks of concern but Jim just smirks at him. Joanna glances between them when Smaug touches the sapphire with gentle hands and it gets noticed by the rest of the group.

"What's that?" she asks, leaning around Leonard to get a better look at the jewel.

"Leonard gave it to me as a gift. He knows I appreciate gemstones as they are naturally." Something in the dragon's tone registers as incredible fondness to Leonard's ears.

"The lattice-work is incredible. Where did you get the wrapping done?" Aurelean asked as Smaug turned it over when she gestured. "Leonard?"

He clears his throat and makes a vague as well as an aborted gesture towards the pendant, "I made it."

"What? Is that what all that cursing was for like a week before break? I thought you were having some kind of breakdown in the study area." Jim asks as he stares at the burn scars Leonard had forgotten to use the regenerator on them.

"Breakdown? No. I was cursing that soldering iron to hell and back. That thing burnt me on three separate occasions. I think it had some kinda grudge... I borrowed it from Scotty."

"Oh. Well that explains the burns. His tools are notorious for hurting the people he borrows them out to, you know. Sometimes the rumor mills spread something true." Jim shrugs as he pokes at the burn scars and the other tiny, barely-there ones from his childhood spent outside playing with branches.

Smaug's defined jawline clenched as Jim played with Leonard's calloused hands and fingers. But why would the dragon be jealous? It wasn't like Smaug thought of him like that, right? Otherwise he would have told Leonard; he was brutally honest if nothing else. The cat-slit grey eyes noticed him looking and Smaug slid his gaze to rest on the patrons of the eatery. Leonard blushed at getting caught, staring down at his plate of slowly disappearing fries. He watches as Joanna's lithe fingers snag at least three and then he hears obnoxious chewing.

"Joanna, if that's you, I'm gonna have to scold you for chewin' with that mouth open." he says while not even paying attention to anything else. The noises stop like he knew they would; it comes with being a parent apparently as he looks up to see amused looks on both Sam and Aurelean's faces.

"I see it's a parent thing." Sam chuckles as Joanna has the good grace to be embarrassed.

"No. It's more like I didn't raise her to be rude like that. My Momma taught me manners-"

"You deliberately broke away from your tour group when you were but a child yourself." Smaug interjected quietly, a pleased smile on his face.

"I was seven. Beside which, you found me and brought me back to the group not even twenty-four hours after the fact." he countered, shaking a luke-warm fry at his other best friend with no small amount of cheek. "And she did teach me manners."

"Oh yeah. You told me that as a bed-time story once." Joanna laughed as she shook her head, the curls swishing gently.

"Really?" Jim's head popped up from where it was resting on his older brother's shoulder.

"Hey. It had a dragon in it and I was a little kid. What kid doesn't like dragons?" she sniffed, looking at Smaug more closely now.

"So Bones does have an imagination. Awesome." Leonard reflects that sometimes Jim's a little dense. None of the Kirks have any idea what sort of person they're actually sitting across from so innocently. Smaug was obviously hiding the scales as Leonard knew he had them.

"He does have quite the tale to spin when the mood strikes. But then again, doesn't any parent have to have an imagination to tell stories that aren't already read a hundred times before?" Smaug counters, signaling the waiter over and paying before anyone else gets the chance. "My treat. I do not often get the opportunity to do this."

"Don't you have anyone to run the online store?" Jim asked as they exited the café. The Kirks were going to spend the rest of the day with family while Leonard took Smaug and Joanna on a tour of the city.

"That is my handiwork, I'll have you know. I do not like delegating when I can do something with my own two hands." comes the reply with Smaug's upper lip curling into a contemptuous sneer.

"Oh. Oops. Uhh, can I say that I am incredibly stupid sometimes? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you." Jim back-tracked quickly, pulling out the puppy-eyes for good measure.

"... You are forgiven. Leo, you didn't tell me the puppy-eyes could be classified as a weapon." Smaug murmured with a concerned look back at him.

"Ha. They should come with a warning beforehand-incredibly sweet and deceiving in nature." he snorts as he shakes his head at Jim. "Stop or I'm telling Galia where your vintage flavored Funyuns are at."

"You wouldn't!" The utter wounded look in Jim's eyes made his resolve waiver a bit but he had this one.

"I've had this text saved for months. You always keep them in the same spots." he grins as he waves his phone out of Jim's reach.

"Nooooo. Not my Funyuns. You utter butt-faced baboon." the whine comes from where Jim had latched onto his leg like Joanna had when she was little.

"Hmm. But no more jabs like that, alright?" he concedes as Jim slumps to the ground theatrically.

"Oh how thou woundest me! Nay, not a single remark shall be made." Jim dusts himself off while Sam gets the idiot's back for him. Leonard hugs Jim to him and presses his cheek to Jim's hair.

"You have a good time but you call me the second you need me." he whispers as he keeps his paradox friend (fragile yet so strong) close.

"Can do Bones." Jim whispers back, wrapping his arms around Leonard's back. The Kirks, Joanna and Smaug aren't looking in their direction; he's got the feeling they know this is a moment for them.

"Get goin' or you're gonna miss the hover-bus." he clears his throat and reverts to his normal self (about as normal as he can be today). Leonard let's Jim go and watches the Kirks, waving when they do until they're no longer in sight. Joanna takes his arm and Smaug glances down at him with a raised brow. "We've been through a lot."

"Of that I am aware. You two share an interesting relationship but it appears to ground Kirk." Smaug replies as he boxes Leonard between him and Joanna. The city crowd keeps looking at those in Cadet reds but Leonard had just wanted out of the Academy.

"Probably should've changed at the dorms." he scowls at the next pitying look someone shoots his way. "I never was a fan of too much attention."

"Would you mind if I bought you a change of clothes?" Smaug mutters after the eighth pitying stare and the fifteen outright gawk. Really, these people should be used to Cadet reds by now.

"If it gets them ta stop starin' at me like I got two heads, go for it." Leonard grumps as he holds his baby girl's hand a little tighter than he should. He eases up as Smaug settles them on a bench in the mall and strides with a scary amount of purpose into a men's clothing store.

"Daddy, are you okay?"

"I'll be fine, ba-Joanna. You're gettin' a little old for me ta be callin' you that. You lookin' at datin' anytime soon?" he remarks quietly.

"Well, there is this boy..."

"Is he decent?" Leonard snorts out as people either rubber-neck at them or give them a wide berth.

"I haven't said a word to him. But... Umm, a girl asked me out. A Betazoid girl." Joanna fidgets as she tells him this, like he won't approve what comes out of her mouth.

"Is that alright with you?" he hums as he pats her hand and runs his free hand through his hair. "What'd you tell her?"

"I said I'd think about but it wasn't a no." She blushes at that and he just chuckles as he shakes his head. "Daddy?"

"If I was th' least bit concerned over who you liked, I'd have lost my mind a long time ago. Question is, do you like her?" Leonard counters as he leans back on the bench.

"She's funny and really sweet. I think I like her." she answers sweetly.

"What's her name?"

"Lwaxana."

"Sounds like a mouthful, Jo." he responds, scrubbing at his eyes. "Maybe I shoulda scheduled the tour for later."

"It's okay if you have to sleep, Daddy." Joanna murmurs as Smaug comes back with a simple black canvas bag. "Smaug, he's tired."

"I am n-" he yawns in the middle of his sentence and scowls at the pair when they start laughing. "That's hilarious, right? Make fun of your old man and your best friend." he snarks sharply. Smaug just supports him as he all but stumbles off of the bench. "Sorry. I'm jus' really exhausted." Leonard doesn't even notice when he drops off fully and he's cradled in Smaug's arms like he's the most important thing in the world.

* * *

He wakes up slowly, grunting as he rubs sleep from his eyes. The slight ache in the back of his head tells him that he slept too long.

"Mornin' Daddy." Joanna says quietly as she balances what looks like coffee and his favorite breakfast food (soft-boiled eggs).

"Is that for me?" he asks as he takes in the bed tray and her sweet smile. "Go set it on... Where are we?"

"Smaug's penthouse. I spent the night on the reserve sleeper and Smaug took the recliner." Leonard looks under the covers, relieved to see a pair of sleep pants even if they were a bit long. Then he realized they were most likely Smaug's and he blushed. "Daddy, are you alright?"

"Mfine. Just show me the table and maybe not laugh at me?" Leonard sighs as he scoots out of the bed, remaking it out of pure habit. She takes his hand and leads him out to a glass-walled room that shows a brilliant view of the city. The shirt he's wearing falls over his shoulder and he face palms as he sees Smaug smiling at him from a decent breakfast spread.

"Good morning, Leo."

"Is it mornin' or are you two just messin' with me again?" he asks as he snags the thick ceramic mug that has coffee in it. He pours in the cream from the fancy little pitcher and stirs it with a spoon so that the black is now a warm caramel color. Tapping the spoon on the side, he takes a mouthful of coffee and sits down with a thump next to Smaug.

"It is still morning though in a few minutes it won't be. Joanna informed me that you are normally up before eight at the very least."

"Yeah. I fell asleep on you yesterday, didn't I?" he mutters sheepishly into his coffee mug, hiding behind the rim of the cup as he takes yet another drink of coffee to start his brain cells back up again. "An' I'm wearin' something that belongs to you."

"Yes and yes. You looked uncomfortable in your Cadet reds. Before you panic, however, they're hanging up neatly and have no wrinkles. Your change of clothes is in the bathroom if you feel like a shower."

"Mm-mmm. Breakfast, brunch or whatever first." Leonard counters, feeling the caffeine working already. "That is some really good coffee."

"Imported from a country that I probably could stand in for an hour before my... nature revealed itself." Smaug chose his words carefully, having noticed that Joanna was suspecting something. "Of course, if you could pry me away from my mountains I think I might follow you just about anywhere Leonard."

"Nice to know. But I think you put a limit on space." he says between bites of his egg.  
"Perhaps. Space is a bit cold for my tastes." Smaug admits with a shrug.

Joanna's been following their conversation while messaging someone on her PADD and she gasps as her eyes light up. "You're Dad's dragon."

"Your offspring is far too perceptive, Leo." the dragon sighs as he releases the glamour. Delicate garnet and crimson scales grace his cheekbones, the corners of his eyes and the tips of his pointed ears. Further inspection proves that the pattern traces down Smaug's arms and onto the back of his hands, which is a lot more than the last time Leonard had seen his friend.

The dragon just raises an eyebrow when Joanna squeaks excitedly. "That is so cool! Does it go everywhere?"

"Joanna!" he chided sharply, shaking his head as he cracks another egg and wags the spoon in her direction. "It's questions like that Starfleet doesn't like."

"I'm not a xenophobe, Daddy, I'm just curious." she huffs back.

"Curiosity. It seems that McCoys in particular have a lot of that. Yes, the scales are everywhere. I am a Fire-Drake; scales are part of us the same as your skin or hair is." Smaug murmurs as he drinks his own coffee with a wry smile. "It is alright if you wish to ask questions, though if they are too personal I may not answer them at all."

"That was about it, actually." she says as she pokes at the mug that held hot chocolate. "I'm curious but I'm not stupid."

"Another trait you share with your father." Smaug snorted dryly as Leonard paused in eating, frozen under the stormy sea-colored gaze. "Kindness as well."

"I never said I was nice, Smaug." Leonard grumbles as he finishes off his first cup and reaches for the still-warm pot of coffee. Smaug pours it for him and adds the right amount of cream to make it perfect, sliding it across the table easily.

"It need not be said in words, Leonard, but in actions as well." countered the dragon with a small smile.

"But... Oh. The pendant." his brain catches up with what Smaug is saying to him and he blushes. "The amount of times I've blushed in the two days so far is ridiculous."

"I like it." the reassurance makes Joanna giggle and Leonard to fight down another blush. "You do not take compliments well, do you?"

"Nope. Daddy's always been that way though." Joanna chirrups as she pats Leonard on the hand. He half-heartedly scowls at her over the coffee mug, cradling the cup to his chest after he's drunk a few mouthfuls of coffee. "See? He gets grumpy when someone compliments him."

"Indeed. Perhaps we could take that tour now?" Leonard downs the rest of his coffee and spots the canvas bag sitting innocently next to the bathroom. The shower is one of the quickest but most decadent he's ever taken.

He glances at the picture he makes in the mirror and scrubs a hand down his face, sighing as he feels his stubble catch on the heel of his palm. Leonard gets the feeling that he blends in better with the civilian population like this. The black shirt is a mix between a wind-breaker and a long-sleeved light sweater, the zip near the top an easy way to cool off if he gets too hot. He leaves it halfway zipped and throws the jacket over his arm after he hikes the sleeves up to three-quarters. The olive green cargo pants and socks are easy to wear as are the boots. Opening the door to the bathroom and stepping out into the cooler penthouse leaves him with a strange sort of contentment.

"You look good, Daddy."

"Really, JoJo? You just saying that or-"

"You do look quite attractive. I'm slightly concerned you will get unwanted attention." Smaug says before he can finish his sentence.

"Pretty sure I can handle a few admiring ladies, Smaug." If the dragon thinks he's attractive, well, that tidbit is for when he's feeling crappy, okay?

"Very well." Leonard completely misses the once-over that Smaug gives him when he turns around and the pants mold to his muscles quite nicely.

"Hey, Jo, where are you staying again?" Leonard asks as he sees Smaug pull up the glamour again, his ears still pointed and his grey cat-slit eyes hidden behind a round pupil.

"In the intern dorms. They're okay. I met my roommate yesterday. She's an El-Aurian. They get pretty old by human standards." Joanna chatters as they get into the turbo-lifts of the hotel.

"It's one of those same-gender ones, hmm?" he hums absently as they go down fairly quickly. Leonard pointedly doesn't look out at the levels they're whipping past.

"Yeah. The girls on my floor are really nice. But Guinan, my roommate, says that there's parallel links with everyone here. Alternate timelines. She said she wanted to meet you guys." she gestures with her hands as she talks and he knows that's a trait of Jocelyn's.

"I assume you mean at the dormitories?" Smaug broke into the conversation and Joanna looks a little disappointed that the glamour covers up the scales. Leonard wants to point out that if aliens are allowed to prance about with white hair or pointed ears then the dragon is allowed his scales.

"Why do you do that?" Joanna asks as they're about to reach the hotel lobby.

"Do what, little one?" Smaug's slightly confused if his tone is anything to go by.

"Hide those pretty scales." The dragon chokes, clears his throat and sighs.

"Most beings are uncomfortable by the sight of me and the glamour does more than hide my scales. My presence is uncomfortable to some species of the Federation." Smaug recites as though from memory. "It is the Dragonfear that makes them so. The pair of you appear to be immune to it, however. No others have shown said immunity, leading me to think that perhaps you are descendants of my enemies."

"Ene... Oh. You mean a really long time ago, don't you?" Leonard says as the private hover-car with the liscence plate HARKER1 pulls up in front of them. They get in and the privacy shield is up so Smaug continues to speak.

"Yes. Millennia even between those I once chose as enemies and your presence now. Hold on a moment." Smaug digs under his set for a moment and makes a triumphant noise in the back of his throat. "How long does your family tend to live, cutting out fatalistic diseases or accidents?"

"Hundred, maybe a hundred and twenty? Medicine's really advanced and now there's even replacement organs. I'd be pushing it if I said a hundred and thirty." Leonard replies, wondering exactly where this is going. Smaug's eyes light up as he finishes, opening the book to a certain page and grunting in surprise.

"Of the line of Anarion. Perhaps I should have known." the amount of distain in Smaug's tone makes Leonard's spine shiver. "The Eldar follow even into the century of the stars."

"Whoa. What the hell are you talkin' about?" He snaps back, not cowering away from the rather distinct snarl.

"Elves. Before Arda was remade by the Valar. It seems that they merely erased memories as opposed to starting over entirely. I was left alone because I was thought dead to them. They shifted entire mountains and even the ones I inhabited were moved; Earth was not always placed in the manner it is now. Yet gods must find a way and they chose the Dunédain as their template. You are descendants of a bloodline thought long fused. Interesting." Smaug seems to snap out of his fugue long enough to explain before turning the book around and handing it to Leonard.

The pages were old, almost crumbling under his touch as it showed both his and Joanna's names in glowing blue ink. The ones in black were obviously deceased but he saw names that had been in the family for centuries. "This is some kind of family tree?"

"It is your family tree, tracking each holder resistant to Dragonfear. That is why you and your little one now are glowing. The names in grey are carriers but not wielders of it. Both of you are resistant to magic, which is why my glamour would irritate you. It also makes you more susceptible to those Federation species with telepathic abilities." Smaug explains as the hover-car stops at the Interning portion of the Academy and the dragon lifts up his Cadet reds in a garment bag.

He hadn't noticed that on the way down, too distracted by the height. "Oh. Thank you."

"I thought that you would like to drop off your uniform after the talk with Joanna's roommate." Smaug shrugs it off, a tint of color on the slightly darker skin-tone. They get out and he really doesn't know what to do when a teenaged girl his daughter's age thrusts a holobook and a stylus in his hands.

"Can I get your signature?"

"No." he hands both objects back, utterly confused.

"Daddy, you're a hero. You, Jim and the command crew of the USS Enterprise." Joanna shows him the article that had come out a little earlier than he'd been awake on her phone.

"Bah. Jim and Spock did most of the work." he waves it off with a scowl on his face when the teenaged girls creep closer again. They back away and Joanna giggles. "JoJo, can't you ask 'em to quit? It's embarrassin' me, havin' girls your age lookin' at me with puppy-love eyes."

"Excuse me." Smaug snarls at the girls that are blocking his way to Leonard. He bends Leonard over like he's some character in a movie and kisses him hard. There's a thought which points out that this is a bad idea but it's crushed under the way his mind goes blank. He melts into the kiss, making a soft noise of appreciation in the back of his throat. Smaug hauls him back up and growls at the startled girls; it sends them scattering as Smaug retains a possessive grip on him.

"Umm..." Leonard licks his lips, the smoke and fire that makes Smaug a Fire-Drake a strangely enticing combination. Damn Smaug kisses well. He blushes, unable to help the direction of his thoughts for a moment. "You mean that?"

"Yes." The dragon glares after the girls like they're the devil incarnate. "You're mine." Smaug looks down and bites his bottom lip as he thinks about something. "If you don't mind, that is."

"Mind? You kiss me like that again an' I won't have any brain cells left ta protest." he finds his voice and his courage all in one go, grinning up at his dragon. "You mind if you're my dragon?" Leonard whispered quietly as he watched Joanna laugh herself sick on the bench conveniently placed.

"Not at all."

By the time they get to the dorm room, Leonard's refused another three holobooks and one clingy girl who asked him to marry her. He's so glad for Smaug's thunderous expression which keeps everyone else away except for Joanna. She slams the door in the interested faces of her floormates and points out her roommate.

"Welcome. I take it your path was harsh on the way-Oh. You were certainly not in the original time continuum. However, you fit quite well here therefore I will not question it." Joanna's roommate sounds a lot more mature than she looks. Leonard likes her immediately, though he's a little freaked out by her mention of time-space continuums. "You have trials yet to come but they are important in ways you cannot fathom now. I apologize for being so cryptic but that is the way of things, is it not?"

"I'm bettin' they hurt, these trials; if your tone is anythin' ta go by Guinan. But I guess it helps me as a person?" Leonard responded and her relieved smile makes him grin.

"Cryptic my messages may be but you get to the heart of things. Your empathy is quite the thing." Guinan says dryly.

"Ain't empathy. I get enough cryptic hints in languages I don't understand half the time because people think I'm datin' my best friend." he snorts as he takes in the Internee rooms. "Same floor plan as the Cadet dorms. I'm gonna see you when I go visit Scotty." he says to his daughter, weaving around the various suitcases on the floor to the replicator. He fiddles with the latch for a bit before it pops off and the wiring is exposed.

"Daddy, what are you doing?"

"Shush for a minute. I'm tryin' ta remember somethin'." He kneels at the base of the replicator, putting the wires at eye-level. "Alright, that goes there, that one's dumb and that connects to the one that's dumb. Okay." Once he's done, he prods the holo-screen and scrolls down the menu options. "Jim re-rigged ours for actual food you can eat. So thank him for doing it in front of me."

"I've been avoiding it. If you approve, I think it's safe." Joanna laughs.

"I triple-checked the food with my tri-corder the first time Jim did that. He's done it for everyone in my rag-tag group." he responds. "Are you gonna unpack or go on to look at the city?"

"Unpack. I've been to San Fran before, Daddy. Shoo." She practically shoves him out of the door along with Smaug. The corridor is empty for the moment but he knows they'll be full after the required weekend off is over. Smaug glances at him and offers his hand. Leonard shyly laced their fingers, a small smile on his face as they avoid the crowds. His phone buzzes and he checks it absently, blinking at the panicked text from Jim.

_From Jim: Don't go outside! There are reporters and... fangirls. I almost got mobbed._

Leonard clucks his tongue and is glad he changed clothes to blend in.

**_To Jim: Wear a hat and some of those crazy things called civilian clothes. I know you have some. Go hang out with Galia and Nyota; they'll protect you from the fangirls. I have Smaug as backup. Breathe and go the back ways that you usually do to get to those bars._ **

The reply is slowed considerably.

_From Jim: Thanks, Bones. Poor Spock almost had to run when he saw the reporters. For some reason, his Vulcan disapproval face works on his fangirls. Geez. Hope this'll blow over soon. I hate hiding but yeah, Galia and Uhura can keep the crazies at bay._

He rolls his eyes and tucks the phone away, glancing up at his dragon.

"That was Kirk?" Smaug murmured as they walked across the green. The thinned ranks hurt a bit to see but then again, it'd be like that for a while.

"Yeah. He was freakin' out over the reporters and fangirls. Told him to go see Uhura and Galia. We're on our own today." he hums as they exit the Starfleet compound after he drops off his Cadet reds in his empty dorm.

"Then show me the city you've called home for the past three years, Leo." the coaxing smile makes him laugh and it feels better than he expected it would.

Standing at the edge of the waters, Leonard sips his cup of coffee and leans back against Smaug's warm heat. The days are still a bit nippy in San Francisco so he's shamelessly using the Fire-Drake as a spaceheater.

"So how do you like San Fran?" he murmurs over the waves that slap against the edge of the canal.

"Any city must be visited with those that you are close with, otherwise the city falls short. I can say that I enjoyed seeing the sights with you by my side." Smaug replies with a quiet assurance.

"It was nice to see the city again. It is different with someone there with you because you catch their enthusiasm." Smaug had appreciated the old Chinatown, especially the red dragons that seemed to be everywhere.

"My apologies. It's just that dragons, drakes and wyrms are never quite given the better end of the stick when it comes to fairytales. Chinese tales have a different direction them, is all." Smaug comments as he rests his chin on Leonard's scruffy mop.

"I think you would've liked being the only dragon in China. A red one at that. They say red is good luck there, you know." he says quietly as they watch boats float by them and the slightly choppy waters.

"Perhaps. However, had I bothered to waken for anything other than those almost frozen soldiers or you, we never would have met." Smaug counters as a gust of wind buffets them both. They settle into a table inside the café, Leonard laughing as snow begins to fall again. "You have no idea what you do to those around you..."

"Huh? I don't much care for everyone else. You know that, Smaug." he squeezes Smaug's fingers gently, enjoying the heat just pouring off of the dragon. Leonard admits that even in spring time San Fran is a bit too nibbly sometimes.

"We've had at least two Orions and two Deltans look over here in the past minutes. I would say that they're interested in something they can't have; you." Smaug rumbles as one of the Deltans obviously didn't catch the message that neither of them are interested and comes over to lean on the table.

"Hey."

"Not interested." Leonard snaps, pulling his cup to his chest as a defensive gesture. "Go away."

"You won't even listen?" the tone is coaxing but he really isn't in the mood for idiocy.  
"No. Now go away." He's aware that he's ruder than normal but honestly, Leonard is the dating one-person at a time type.

"I can't even ask for your name?" the bald Deltan wheedles.

"My mate said no twice. Do not make him refuse you third time." Smaug growls as he releases his glamour. The cat-slit eyes are contained fury and his fangs are flashing dangerously. "I suggest you leave Deltan. I have no problem with your presence normally but if you insist, I will have every right to kill you." he says pleasantly enough. The tone sends chills down Leonard's spine as it's delivered with a hint of Dragonfear, which is like an invisible blanket of terror spreading out from Smaug. People start edging away from them as the presence lingers in the area.

The Deltan nearly trips as he spins on his heel and practically runs back to the table with his fellow Deltan and the two Orions. Leonard almost sprays his coffee out when the other aliens shake their heads and say in Standard, "We told you that one was taken. Maybe a Halanan? They mate for life."

"Oh."

Smaug tugs Leonard closer and nuzzles against his neck, purring as he tamps the Dragonfear back down under the glamour. "Mine."

"Crazy dragon." he whispers, tilting his neck up to grant Smaug access. Contrary to popular belief, Leonard actually liked it when his partners were possessive. It meant that they weren't cheating on him. "I think he got the memo."

"I will warn you that this will be frequent if you keep garnering attention." Smaug says sheepishly as he swipes his cheek against Leonard's as he's all but in Smaug's lap. "Dragons do not share."

"I know that much. But you know JoJo's no threat and Jim's family." he points out as he runs his thumb over the crimson scales smattering the back of his dragon's hand. The swirl of scales that decorate Smaug's face curve to his cheekbones and then miss his nose entirely. They skate along his temples before coming down to look like an ancient helm, dipping in the middle with a sharp spike that stops just short of the dip between his eyes. He reaches up and caresses Smaug's garnet scales, chuckling softly when it garners him a pleased purr as well as half-lidded cat eyes.

"Has anyone told that you are very persuasive?" the dragon asks with a soft smile. The canines have been retracted into dull teeth again but Leonard doesn't mind either way.

"Not really. Jim's usually the one gettin' in and out of trouble." he answers with a shrug. He pokes a finger into his coffee and frowns when it's cold.

"Well you are, Leonard." Smaug's hand wraps around the cup and steam starts coming off of it, the grey eyes glancing at him. "Where did you see yourself around this time as a child?"

"Never thought I'd be datin' a dragon, that's for sure. I knew I'd have a kid so JoJo was expected and I knew wanted to be a doctor so that's no surprise either. You're the unknown bit here." he teased as he rest his cheek on Smaug's shoulder.

"A good one?"

"Yeah. Sometimes I wonder what lead me to linger behind but it must've been for a reason."

"Perhaps." Smaug concedes as he just hauls Leonard right into his lap. "Though I think it may have been the Valar taking pity on me." Privately, Leonard thinks that maybe the Valar hadn't taken pity so much as they got tired of seeing Smaug lonely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that was harder to type. Mostly because I have a cat laying on top of me and she's a seventeen pound beastie. Cat aside, I hope you enjoyed my works. This may get some manips. If you've got artistic friends, point 'em in the direction of this fic?


	4. Dragons Mate for Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ack! So sorry to those of you who were actively reading this fic. Might have to go back and re-read? I forgot I had this already when I switched devices in '14. Oops. 
> 
> Anywho, next chapter for you and sincere apologies!

* * *

The crew of the USS Enterprise was granted three weeks of shore leave along with any remaining Cadets from the other ships. Leonard vanished off the official radar as did his rag-tag group (which now included Spock for a reason named James Tiberius Kirk) with the words, 

_**We'll be back in time for assignments. Thanks for the leave.**_

_**P.S. Don't come looking either.** _

The note became old hat when someone posted a photo of billionaire Harker kissing a brown-haired man very enthusiastically. Harker Antiques and Fine Arts had refused to comment other than to say, 'Mr. Harker is more than happy with his chosen partner. No further comment at this time.'

* * *

Leonard wakes up the most pleasant way anyone ever can, with gentle kisses and a warm gaze staring down at him. 

"Smaug, too early..." he yawns, wrinkling his nose at the thought of his dragon tasting his morning breath. 

"No it isn't. It's nearly ten in the morning and I happen to like morning breath because nothing is worse than rotting dwarves under a mountain." Smaug answers, raising one perfectly-groomed eyebrow at him with a small smile. 

"Okay, that's disgusting. On a scale of one to that, how bad was it?" Leonard just lays there, staring up at his dragon and relishing in the comfortable weight laying on him. 

"A one and I am partially exaggerating. You smell like snow, peaches and peppermint." Smaug crooned as he buried his face against Leonard's throat. 

"Peppermint? I think I'd smell more like the MedBay than what you just said." The dragon's broad shoulders shook with mirth as Smaug muffled his laughter into Leonard's shoulder. 

"Hardly. You smell like where you were born and it never leaves your scent. I, for instance, smell like the volcano I was born near."

"Brimstone and smoke along with incense?" Leonard said as he pushed against Smaug to roll them over so that he was straddling his dragon with obvious bed-head. 

"Hey, Smaug, you wake up-ARGH! My eyes! It's like walking in on a parent!" Jim slammed the door closed on them and Leonard can't stop laughing for quite some time. He flops down on Smaug's chest, smiling as his head rises and falls with his dragon's breath. 

"Kirk is annoying far too early. Tame your mongrel, please." Smaug sighs as he flops his head back onto Leonard's pillow. 

"He's not... What the hell am I saying, yeah, Jim's my puppy. I'll tame him as soon as I don't feel gross from a long trip even by shuttle. Care to... join me?" he teases with a smirk over his shoulder. 

Smaug purrs and scoops him up to plant a kiss on his lips again, "Certainly, Leo."

* * *

By the time Leonard makes it down to brunch, he's been kissed a dozen times by a very possessive dragon. He can't even muster up the shame to blush when Spock raises the eyebrow and looks between them with Vulcan censure. Smaug had let go of his glamour once the rag-tag group proved hardier than many of the civilian population so the dragon just cocked his head to the side. 

"You do not approve?" Smaug murmured as he nuzzles Leonard's neck and cheek, rumbling softly in contentment. 

"Vulcans do not... touch quite as often." Spock replies a bit stiffly. 

"My kind is affectionate, especially towards soon-to-be Mates. In a week's time Leonard may take the Mark and be a full Mate if he so desires. Until then, however, my apologies at discomfiting you Commander." Smaug remarks casually even as he presses a warm kiss to Leonard's temple. 

"Accepted, Mr. Harker." The Vulcan's cheeks are a slight green with all of the attention Smaug has been giving Leonard lately. 

"If you don't mind me asking, what is your kind?" Smaug looks up at Nyota as she enters the room in a silken robe and her hair up in a wrap. 

"You would not believe me if I told you." The garnet scales shift slightly to cover a bit more of Smaug's face and his teeth sharpen again. "I am, after all, a myth." He winks but turns his attention to making Leonard his coffee. "Here Leo. Just the way you like it. How is Joanna?" 

"Havin' a blast at the Internee Camp. The instructors think she's ready for advanced placement. My JoJo's good at fixing things." he says proudly, almost puffing out his chest. 

"You have a daughter?" Nyota asks quietly as she sips her coffee with manners. 

"Just the one. I wanted more but my ex... Well, she wasn't inclined to it." Leonard admits with a shrug. "Just wanted JoJo not to be alone since I was an only child. She's doin' a sight better than I did; made friends with her entire floor a week after she arrived at the Camp." 

"Ha! I always knew you were a big softie but that just confirms it." Jim cackles as he swans into the room with bed-head and a thin t-shirt that read the name of some obscure high school. 

Leonard watches Spock in astonishment as the Vulcan flushes a shade of bright green that fades as soon as Jim looks that way. So the hobgoblin had his eyes on Jim. He catches Jim making cow-eyes at Spock so it's definitely reciprocated. The question is why haven't they done anything about it? 

Smaug nuzzles against him again and murmurs too quiet even for Vulcan hearing, "Neither of them is aware of the other's affections. Would you like to make a bet since they made one on ours?" 

"Yeah. I say it takes somethin' big to get them to so much as admit feelin's for the other one." he scoffs because he knows Jim. 

"It will take three years. The Vulcan is patient but no one is _that_ patient." Here Smaug blushes a little as he nips under Leonard's jawline. "Especially when the intended target is as pretty as they are." 

"You callin' Jim and Spock pretty?" Leonard asks while supressing some giggles at the thought. 

"No. I am calling you gorgeous and far too hard to resist. Though they would make an excellent Mated pair; opposites that are equal in measure when it comes to the mind." Smaug comments as he watches Spock eat his multi-grain oatmeal with a calm expression. 

"Hah. You're right." Leonard admits as Jim slurps his cereal milk obnoxiously. "Jim, I'm gonna slap you. Drink your milk properly." His best friend stops slurping and finishes the liquid quietly. 

"Sorry, Bones." Jim says sheepishly while wiping his mouth. Scotty was snoozing on Nyota's arm after eating part of her breakfast and M'Benga had declined the invitation to Smaug's mountain cabin in favor of visiting his Mother. Christine and Galia had yet to get out of bed as far as he could see. 

"Is anyone gonna go wake up the girls?" he asks with a raised brow of his own. 

"No need, Doc. Anyone leave us some eggs?" Galia chirrups as she skips down in a fluffy dressing gown that falls to her calves. Her feet are in what looks like Starfleet-issued winter socks and Christine shuffles into the kitchen with a matching dressing gown. 

She grunts when Galia sets down a steaming hot tea and plants a sweet kiss to Christine's forehead. After the gesture, his Nurse curled around her cup like he does in the mornings when he wants to hiss at the sunlight. Leonard just passed the sugar wordlessly and huddled into his own space heater. Smaug scooped him up off his seat and curled around Leonard with a pleased rumble. "That is adorable. Thought you had an ex?" 

"I did." he answers with a quiet warmth that's easy when he's surrounded by Smaug. The dragon chuffs quietly as he slides his nose along Leonard's cheek and accepts Leonard's kiss with a hum. "I moved on." 

"He's definitely prettier, right?" Galia teases over as she dances to a tune no one else can hear. 

"Mmm-hmm." He lolls his head back on Smaug's supporting shoulder with a genuine smile. "Real handsome."

* * *

He stands in the reception area for Joanna, pacing as he waits in a solid corner. Leonard hears Jocelyn before he sees her. 

"She's following that McCoy blood. I did hope she would pursue a proper career outside of Starfleet-" She sits in one of the seats across from Leonard's pacing with a woman that strikes him as snobbish. "Ha. See? Even the 'fleet has to wait." 

"Daddy." Joanna hugs him tightly and he smiles as he whispers the good news to her. 

"Smaug's lawyers got me at least half of the visits I shoulda been allowed in the first place. I even have the paperwork ta prove it." He pulls away to square his shoulders and do a battle of wits with his ex. 

"Leonard-"

"It's McCoy to you, Treadway. I got my visits." he cuts her off coldly with a sharp gaze. "Joanna's allowed to go back and forth if she'd like." 

Smaug comes up with Joanna's luggage not sparing Jocelyn a glance as he takes Leonard's face and kisses him hard. Leonard's tension melted away as he maps Smaug's mouth, probably enjoying the smoke and brimstone taste more than he should. 

"Daddy... C'mon, I wanted to fix that dilithium crystal holder with Scotty." Joanna complains while tugging on his leather jacket. "I have my tool kit and everything." He reluctantly pulls away with a soft snik, licking his lips and looking up at his pleased dragon. "Daaaad." 

"Sorry, JoJo. You know Smaug's... persuasive." Leonard shares a smile with his almost Mate, both of them barely keeping from breaking into giggles at Jocelyn's flushed face. The friend she'd brought was fanning herself with her hand. "Okay we're going." 

By the time they reached the hover-car they were on the verge of giggling at any moment. The second they sat, Leonard broke first laughing until there were tears in his eyes. Smaug followed with a musical laughter that held the deeper rumble of his nature. Joanna just giggled, bursting into more everytime she looked their way. 

"That was good. I thought she was going to faint right there." Smaug murmured with a smile threatening to break his neutral expression again. 

"Pfft. She looked like she was about ta combust from the heat. Remind me to do that again?" he sighs as he leans against Smaug. "That was worth every second of fightin' her lawyers." 

"Indeed." his dragon answers with a reassuring squeeze to Leonard's hand. 

"I really get to go back and forth? Daddy, that is so sweet!" She hugs him tight, her lithe limbs wrapped around his neck as they drive up to the retreat. "So how's Scotty?" 

"Driving all of us nuts with that dilithium holder. It keeps hummin' at odd hours in the night when it's behind the force-field we made Scotty put around it." he groans as they round the corner of the road and hit snow-packed gravel. "We're here." Joanna gasped while Leonard looked out at with a smile lingering on his lips. 

It's a wonderful sight to behold; the mountain levels off at this point and Smaug had dug deep to let the contractors do the best job. The rest had been elegantly fitted out with magic to keep the structure (as it was deep into the side of the mountain) from crumbling under the weight of the rest of the stone. 

There were tiered levels that were easily accessed by a limited amount of stairs. Smaug had muttered something about Dwarves, staircases and liquid gold that made Leonard smile. The book that he'd been given last year had detailed the entire life of Smaug up until the point they'd met so he knew the story behind the comment. 

"Daddy, this is amazin'!" she dropped into her Georgian accent without realizing it and Leonard just laughed. His reaction had been much the same so he couldn't say he was surprised. 

"I know darlin', I know. It's beautiful." They guided her inside and showed her to her room on the top teir where Galia and Christine were also staying. 

"This must be Joanna? Hi. I'm Galia. That's Christine, my girlfriend." The Orion was grinning as she skipped across the hall to poke at Leonard's Nurse; said Nurse took the teasing with a roll of her eyes and a swat that landed on Galia's ass. 

"Quit harassing Leonard's kid. You'll meet Scotty in a minute when you're settled in, sweetheart. I know you two won't eat lunch if we don't make you either." Christine says with a warm smile that catches Galia enough off-guard to fall into Christine's lap. Leonard just sighs and closes their door. Thank God Smaug had the sense to sound-proof the rooms for those who were already a couple. 

When Joanna emerges from her Engineering session with Scotty, both of them are inexplicably covered in grease and various dark fluids are streaked along foreheads, elbows as well as chins. Leonard just gestures wordlessly to the pile of sandwiches that he and Smaug had been making since she started talking to Scotty. 

"Fank you Daddy." Joanna said around a mouthful of tuna sandwich. She swallowed, grinning as he slapped his face with a groan. "Sorry. That was a really good sandwich and I was hungry." 

"Just... Finish your food before you say anything." he sighs as he leans against Smaug. 

His dragon wraps an arm around his shoulders as they take a plateful of sandwiches for them down to the Den area. The entire bottom tier is for Smaug and Leonard to use as they please; at least a quarter of it holds Smaug's horde because the Fire Drake sometimes likes to sleep in it while surrounding Leonard. It's not quite cold enough for his dragon to do that again for some time. 

They nibble on the food and Smaug taps his way through the massive amounts of movies in the Netflix archives. Leonard almost chokes on a sandwich as his dragon taps on a movie called The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. 

"Interesting." Smaug murmurs as it starts. "I had wondered about their stories, their motivations for coming into the Lonely Mountain where I slept. This shall be... entertaining." 

They sat at the end credits of the last movie, Smaug briefly massaging the scar over his heart at the arrow that Bard had shot through his scales. "Hubris is always painful to swallow." his dragon murmured as he held Leonard close to him. "Perhaps if I had known the people better... No, there is no use dwelling in millennia past. I have you here with me and that is enough." 

"They say that hindsight's what you need but you don't understand until it happens. Besides, you learned somethin'." Leonard pointed out as he tapped away at his e-paperwork that had piled up during their weeks away. 

"Is that work?" 

"Yeah. I don't wanna slave away at this like Jim's gonna do once we get back. I'd rather get it done now and not have as big a pile when I want ta stay with you or spend some time together on a date." he explains as he reads the fine print before throwing away spam. His fingers flick the trash where it belongs as he clears out both his personal and work inboxes. "Huh. I guess they're assignin' us to go look for the 'hulking, fire-breathing beast that inhabits the Earthen mountain range the Drisdini wish to settle.' No mention that they were snoopin' in your Den and pokin' around your hoard." Smaug huffs out a sharp jet of steam with a laugh. 

"Of course not. They obviously want it for themselves. It's _**my**_ mountain range, however, and they will have to search elsewhere." Smaug quipped with an acrid tone.

"There's more. 'If the beast is sentient, prepare negotiations. Signed, Starfleet Admirality.' Well, they're at least givin' you a chance." 

"Then shall we test that theory?" Smaug's grin is full of fangs and Leonard knows that his dragon as well as soon-to-be-Mate doesn't fear judgement from the group.

* * *

They were immediately assigned to Smaug's cave. Leonard actually was muffling his laughter as Spock, Jim and Christine kept slipping on the rocks that had been covered in snow but were now wet instead. 

"You gonna keep laughing, oh high-and-mighty, or you gonna help?" Jim snaps, "Seriously. Your boyfriend swanned off awful early, Bones." Leonard rolls his eyes and helps them up including Spock. Christine just scrambled up the rocks with a determined expression. 

"I've been here before." he mutters it, blinking as he did indeed recognize the area. "A long time ago. I think that-" Smaug roared right on cue. "Oh. So that's what the Drisdini were talking about." 

"Who dares enter my mountain? Thieves have come before and did not come out again." the deep rumble is absolutely perfect. 

"Excuse our intru-Whoa." Nyota backed off as Smaug stepped out into the rocky basin, his eyes glowing a shade of gold that would've struck terror into the hearts of anyone else. The weak sunlight filtered through the clouds for a moment and bathed Smaug in a glow that highlighted the deep scar over his heart. "Our apologies, great dragon, but we have been-"

"Sent by those foolish blue creatures that tried to take from my hoard?" the rumble was much lower as Smaug leaned down to stare at Nyota. 

"No, by Starfleet Admiralty. We wish to assess the area for livability for the Dresdini alien species. If this is your mountain, great dragon, we will leave it in peace and search another range." she finished with a smile. Smaug looked up and between on blink and the next, Leonard's dragon was in the human form he now prefered. "Mr. Harker?!" 

"It's Smaug and yes. Leonard and I had discussed when Starfleet would send a team out here. You'll notice that I have a few homes in the mountains. The former American continent as well as the Himalayans are better suited for the Dresdini so that we do not cross paths again. I do not appreciate thieves." Smaug wrapped himself around Leonard with a satisfied smirk as the group got over their shock. 

"We shall report that to Starfleet. A sentient being lives in the mountains and should be left well alone." Spock said as his mouth turn downward slightly. "How do you change forms so quickly?" 

"Magic. It's old magic at that, sealed into my bones since birth." Smaug answered readily enough now that he had a hand up Leonard's jacket and was kneading the small of his back gently.

"That is... improbable but not impossible." Spock murmurs as he raises a groomed brow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, sorry for the wait. Comment, complain, ect.


End file.
